Letter from William Montgomery to his mother, Sara Montgomery, 13 October, 1916 Letters 1916-1923 William Alexander Montgomery

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A Long letter from William Montgomery to his mother describing his five days as temporary battalion commander in the trenches. He wonders what the old field officers would think of such rank madness. He describes his army servant and the general attitude to servant's to the officers they serve. He writes that the truly appalling battalion commanding business does not worry him as much as settling a fire loss claim with R N Kennedy. He would not like to be a soldier in peace time and thinks he wouldn't have much bother getting in again if there was another war in this generation. 'This one ought to satisfy this generation though.'The Montgomery family lived in Malone Park, one of the wealthiest suburbs of Belfast city. This letter is part of a large collection that their son, William, a Captain with the 9th Battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles, wrote to his parents, Harford Hugh and Sara Montgomery, throughout the war. His first letter is dated 3 December 1914. Captain Montgomery was a decorated soldier. He was awarded both the Victoria and the 15 Star medals and was promoted to the rank of Major. His father owned a fire assessor business.

 Public Record Office of Northern Ireland Papers of the Montgomery Family, D2794/1/1/15 https://letters1916.ie/item/678 English William Alexander Montgomery 1916-10-13 In the Field Sara Montgomery Monacherra, Malone Park,Belfast, Ireland Male World War I (1914-1918)

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 In the Field 13.10.16 My Dear Mother Very many thanks for yours of 30th ult written from Portrush, also for your parcels of Home baked bread, You should just see how it disappears. Awful it is. I am writing you this on this Sunday notepaper because I think perhaps you will like to receive a letter from a real live Battalion Commander who at the same time happens to be a quite near relation of your own. It is very temporary of course being only for 5 days in all, but they are 5 days in the trenches & it hasn't happened accidentally, as the real C.O.. knew of it when he went on leave himself & discussed it with the Higher Powers that be & they didn't object. It is an extraordinary condition of affairs though when one thinks of it. Just imagine the thoughts & expressions of one of the real old Regular Field officers if they come to hear of such rank madness. Why! they wouldn't even trust me to command one of their Companies on a Barrack Square under close supervision, much less fight a Battalion in the line. And yet a lot of imitation soldiers like me are doing a heap more responsible work than I am & a lot of Pukka Regulars are either at home or taking orders from them. I have been much grieved to hear of Matts condition. If he is still alive, please tell him I think of him here often, If he is to go we shall all miss him badly in the office. Still you know he dies quite comfortable with his boots off & plenty of warning. Our fellows don't do that here. One is very apt to get callous I fear. I passed a couple of men this morning pushing a truck. As I approached, of course, the truck stopped & the men came to attention and saluted. (All very proper & as it should be) I, giving my usual well known imitation of dignity, ( Maynard Sinclair can describe it, but perhaps not to you ) returned the salute & passed on. I did not know or hadn't noticed what was on the truck until an officer who had been walking with me re-joined me & said - ' They were men of - I said who were? And he replied - Those on the truck. It appears there were 4 of them. At least the person buried four this afternoon. I suppose it really is a dreadful state to get into, but honestly I almost touched that truck in passing and never noticed its load. I have just passed my Battalion orders for issue. Very nice it looks too, neatly typed at the top of a sheet of foolscap. Battalion Orders by CAPT. W.A. MONTGOMERY. D.S.O. Comdg. 9th Batt. Royal Irish Rifles Funnily enough, the men love these decoration & are most careful that everyone knows their officers possess them, They get most annoyed if they see a personal letter coming to me for instance if it is improperly addressed ! My present servant was in a fearful state a few days ago, I understand, because a box I had made for me did not have the letters after my name, He told the men who brought it that it was no Bl-dy use to himlike that that - to take it back & finish it. Men are children, only more so. He has bought some white paint, I hear , with a view to some decorating on that base on his own account. He will do it too. Although I have expressly forbidden him too. He simply cant bear the sight of it as it is. and it is most extraordinary how a good servant regards one's odds & ends of things. They really regard them as their own personal property. My feelings in the matter are quite secondary. Any good servant is or ought to be most frightfully hurt if his officer dares to know where to find any of his own things. He looks upon it as a personal insult of the blackest shade - far worse than if one cast hateful aspersions on his immediate ancestry. this redheaded Judas I have now for instance, has put on the most frightful side since we came to Batt. H.Q. I didn't see him myself but when I arrived at my own Coy. H.Q. this morning, they told me that my servant (Russell) had been looking for me, dressed up as an H.Q. orderly, if you please. I hadn't told him to come there at all, much less turn himself into an orderly. But there you have it. He deliberately went to the front line from his quite safe & quiet place , simply to talkdown to his own pals. He took damned good care I didn't see him though. In some respects, mother mine, we are worse than women. Seniority in a company mess of servants is much more strictly observed than even by the officers. The Coy. Comdr's servant for instance is a very important person indeed. He doesn't even need to go on working parties. And woe betide the silly young Coy. Sergt. Major who tries to cross him in any way. He usually finds himself in hot water very soon. The servant quite casually lets him down or give him away in some way or other. Taking them all in all though they are more fun that yours & of course at least 90% would always die for their officers. And some of the things they do. Ye Gods! The awful things they do with food, clothes & fruitall for the best. I would die of boredom if they didn't keep on doing them too. This one I have now, for instance, is almost too good a thief. He uses no discrimination at all. It is a disease with him. He has also a mistaken idea that he is a bomb & explosives expert. I was awakened this morning by a hammering noise, and there he was with a knife, Soldiers one busily engaged in hammering & prizing off the end of a German Hand grenade in order to get at the explosive (T.N.T) When he got it out He started digging at it with a large spike thing he had & then he capsized it out on a piece of a board on which he had laid his lighted cigarette butt. ( We both smoke the same cigarettes by the way) He moved the lighted cigarette a little to one side & said quite calmly - Its very like brown sugar , Sir , soft & wet. As I had more than a shrewd suspicion that he was doing all this either to get me up quickly or to try out my nerve or both, & as I happen to know almost as much as he thinks he does about this particular explosive I went one up on him by telling him to thrown his blasted brown sugar on the fire & get me some hot shaving water. This was something he didn't know about & it shook him up a bit, but he quickly discovered that if he did what he was told & there was anything wrong about it I would go west too, so he just did it. If you happen to meet any person looking for a brand new definition of faith, you may tell him of this one. It is quite literally true that he didn't know the stuff makes a grand firelighter & he does know what it makes if it is suitably detonated, & because I told him to do it, he did it. In any case I think even if it had been detonated & he knew it & I knew it & told him to put it in the fire, rather than be caught trying it on me he would still do it. You will understand this. So do I & that is just why this artist is my servant now. Well it is quite time I closed now. I am not very busy, but I am sleepy & in this life one is unwise to miss sleep when the mood & the opportunity synchronize. ( Quite neat that, isn't it?) I am getting quite literary. I think I will write a book or something someday. Does one write the book first & choose the title after or does one start with a title & write about it? You will gather that the truly appalling responsibility of this Battalion Commanding business doesn't worry me much, no not as much as trying to settle one little fire loss with R.N.Kennedy used to do. This is perfectly true. It is also very interesting & becomes more so the longer it is considered. It is in me somewhere., I fear. But where it came from I don't know. I wouldn't be a soldier in peace however for a considerable consideration - no not even if I could afford it. I don't think there ever will be much trouble getting in if ever there is another war in this generation. This one ought to satisfy this generation though. news. I am really stopping now Goodnight ( This word can be rather more than a mere form here.) Your quite irresponsible but loving Son WM William Alexander Montgomery Letter from William Montgomery to his father, Harford Hugh Montgomery, 26 October, 1916Letter from William Montgomery to his mother, Sara Montgomery, 13 October, 1916Letter from William Montgomery to his father, Harford Hugh Montgomery, 19 November, 1916Letter from William Montgomery to his parents, Harford and Sara Montgomery, 30 October, 1916Letter from William Montgomery to his father, Harford Hugh Montgomery, 29 September, 1915Letter from William Montgomery to his father, Harford Hugh Montgomery, 16 November, 1916Letter from William Montgomery to his father, Harford Hugh Montgomery, 13 December, 1915Letter from William Montgomery to his parents, Harford and Sara Montgomery, 18 November, 1915Letter from William Montgomery to his parents, Harford and Sara Montgomery, 29 December, 1915Letter from William Montgomery to his mother, Sara Montgomery, 23 December, 1915 In the Field Letter from William Montgomery to his father, Harford Hugh Montgomery, 26 October, 1916Letter from James Davidson to his mother, Clara Mary Davidson, 28 November 1915Letter from James Davidson to his mother, Clara Mary Davidson, 12 November 1915Letter from James Davidson to his mother, Clara Mary Davidson, 16 November 1915Letter from James Davidson to his mother, Clara Mary Davidson, 3 November 1915Letter from James Davidson to his mother, Clara Mary Davidson, 2 December 1915Letter from William Montgomery to his mother, Sara Montgomery, 13 October, 1916Letter from James Davidson to his mother, Clara Mary Davidson, 17 December 1915Letter from James Davidson to his mother, Clara Mary Davidson, 12 December 1915Letter from James Davidson to his mother, Clara Mary Davidson, 22 December 1915Letter from James Davidson to his mother, Clara Mary Davidson, 31 December 1915Letter from James Davidson to his mother, Clara Mary Davidson, 1 February 1916Letter from James Davidson to his mother, Clara Mary Davidson, 11 January 1916Letter from James Davidson to his mother, Clara Mary Davidson, 19 January 1916Letter from William Montgomery to his father, Harford Hugh Montgomery, 18 December, 1915Letter from William Montgomery to his father, Harford Hugh Montgomery, 13 December, 1915Letter from William Montgomery to his parents, Harford and Sara Montgomery, 18 November, 1915Letter from William Montgomery to his parents, Harford and Sara Montgomery, 29 December, 1915 Monacherra, Malone Park,Belfast, Ireland Letter from William Montgomery to his mother, Sara Montgomery, 13 October, 1916Letter from William Montgomery to his father, Harford Hugh Montgomery, 29 September, 1915Letter from William Montgomery to his father, Harford Hugh Montgomery, 18 December, 1915Letter from William Montgomery to his parents, Harford and Sara Montgomery, 18 November, 1915Letter from William Montgomery to Sara Montgomery, 23 December, 1915Letter from William Montgomery to his mother, Sara Montgomery, 23 December, 1915